Rahul Gandhi: Self-confidence is the key to overcome poverty

Congress Vice President and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi praised the role of self-help groups in advancement of marginalised section of society on Monday and also said they provide the poor with self-confidence to overcome poverty.

Rahul Gandhi expressed this opinion while participating in a discourse on 'Culture, Deepening Democracy and Most Marginalised Communities', organised here by noted social scientist Badri Narayan. "I understand the weaknesses of our system. I will try my best to help the people but unless and until the voice of the marginalised comes out from within, nothing can be done," Narayan quoted Gandhi as having said at the event which was organised at the GB Pant Social Science Institute on the outskirts of the city.

"Poverty is just a state of mind. It does not mean the scarcity of food, money or material things. If one possesses self-confidence, then one can overcome poverty," he said. Rahul Gandhi also cited the example of a poor woman in Amethi, who redeemed her self-esteem by getting associated with self-help group Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana.

The Congress MP from Amethi, who was accompanied by the party's national general secretary Madhusudan Mistry, also interacted with people from remote villages of Allahabad and other neighbouring districts. "My one and only political aim is that I want to tune my ears to the voice of the poor and the marginalised", assured Rahul Gandhi.